Do you hate your boss? Three buddies decide to get rid of their supervisors in “Horrible Bosses,” a comedy film directed by Seth Gordon and starring Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, and Kevin Spacey.
HORRIBLE BOSSES
Warner Bros. Pictures / New Line Cinema
MPAA Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language and some drug material
URL: http://www.horriblebossesmovie.com
Studio Synopsis:
For Nick, Kurt and Dale, the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con, the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers…permanently. There’s only one problem: even the best laid plans are only as foolproof as the brains behind them.
Jason Bateman (“Couples Retreat”), Jason Sudeikis (TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” “Going the Distance”) and Charlie Day (“Going the Distance,” TV’s “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,”) play the three hapless workers, while two-time Academy Award® winner Kevin Spacey (“American Beauty,” “The Usual Suspects”), Colin Farrell (“Crazy Heart”) and Jennifer Aniston (“He’s Just Not That Into You”) are their unbearable bosses. Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) appears as the con, whose street cred is priced on a sliding scale. The film also stars Julie Bowen (TV’s “Modern Family”) and veteran actor Donald Sutherland.
Seth Gordon (“Four Christmases,” “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”) directs “Horrible Bosses” from a story by Michael Markowitz, with screenplay by Michael Markowitz and John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein. Brett Ratner and Jay Stern are producing the film, with Richard Brener, Michael Disco, Sam Brown and Diana Pokorny serving as executive producers. John Cheng, John Rickard and Mary Rohlich are co-producers.
New Line Cinema’s “Horrible Bosses,” a Rat Entertainment Production, will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh9cG5dzs-U[/youtube]
J.P.’s Take:
“Horrible Bosses” stars Jason Bateman (playing Nick Hendricks), Jason Sudeikis (Kurt Buckman) and Charlie Day (Dale Arbus) as three disgruntled employees, who conspire to murder their bosses. If you’ve met their bosses, you’d understand that their motivation to follow through is “somewhat” justifiable. It’s a sentiment many hard working people share, at least those who have felt the crack of the whip of cooperate management. What’s funny about this film is that it touches on the sensitive subject with a slightly dark but comical flare.
However, the script is more suggestive than action and makes the most of its crass, violent and sexualized tendencies. Originally, the guys joked with the idea of killing their respective bosses, but after further thought, they actually decide make an attempt at conducting their first homicide. This leads Nick, Kurt and Dale to following the bosses undercover, including breaking into their homes to find weaknesses, which would make them vulnerable. They even hire a wannabe hitman named Dean “Mother F**ker” Jones (Jamie Foxx) to have the bosses whacked (You would think I was talking about an episode of “The Sopranos”).
What makes the film work is the lead cast. Bateman, Sudeikis and Day have great chemistry together, almost as if they have been friends for ages.
As for the terrible “bosses,” Kevin Spacey (playing Nick’s boss, Dave Harkin) has great command of his character as the hard nosed, wicked sadist. His posture is threatening like a predator and his words cut like a knife.
An almost unrecognizable Colin Farrell plays the perfect coked out womanizer, Bobby Pellitt, who plays Kurt’s boss. With great makeup, Farrell sports a large cranium with a comb over that will rival Donald Trump. His performance is hilarious; you catch him snorting coke and fondling hookers like a true sleaze ball.
Scenes involving Jennifer Aniston’s dentist character offer a vivid slice of sexual tension, as she uses her womanly whiles to lure the meek Dale into her web. Aniston employs her sharp sense of humor in her role, as she describes the many things that turn her on, even the sexual acts she indulges in with men. I won’t go into great detail of what she does with a certain dental tool, but its goes beyond intended use. This is a total switch from Aniston’s squeaky clean on-and-off screen image as the naughty Doctor. She’s well worth watching as she parades around as a brunette, while showcasing her foxy curves.
Playing a supporting character, Foxx does what he does best and that is create comedy out even the most mundane of characters. He is able to provoke laughs simply by speaking his name Mother F**ker Jones. Each time the buddies said his name you couldn’t tell if they were insulting him or praising him.
Donald Sutherland also pops up with a brief appearance as the gentle and fatherly Jack Pellitt, father of Bobby.
I saw the film with “Sidewalks Entertainment” creator/co-host Richard R. Lee, who found the film amusing, basically because of the cast – highlighted by Spacey and Aniston. He mentions that if you like a film with the similar qualities of recent buddies films — like “The Hangover 2” and “Hall Pass” –- along with crude and non-stop sexual discussion (without the nudity), “Bosses” is an another good choice.
As for me, “Horrible Bosses” is hilarious, and I enjoyed it as much as “The Hangover,” because of the great chemistry of the cast and the relatable storyline.